Texans thankful to have Kubiak’s presence back

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Coach Gary Kubiak returned to work on a limited basis on Monday. Barring an unforeseen setback, he’ll be on the practice field on Wednesday and on the sideline for Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders at Reliant Stadium.

Kubiak suffered a mini-stroke at halftime of the Indianapolis game. He made an appearance at practice on Thursday and stopped by the office on Friday.

Kubiak worked a half day on Monday before going home.

“It was good to see him,” receiver Andre Johnson said. “It’s just good to have him back.”

The Texans are suffering through a franchise-record seven-game losing streak.

“It’s going to be great to have him back,” running back Ben Tate said. “He’s a great offensive mind. Maybe he can help us solve this problem.”

Offensive tackle Duane Brown said it was tough not having Kubiak as their coach last week.

“It was odd not seeing him on a day-to-day basis,” Brown said. “Seeing him up and about and locked into everything we’ve got going on was a great sight.”

Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips served as interim coach in Kubiak’s absence. Kubiak hasn’t been available to the media since the incident.

“His comments (to the players) were really overall, looking at the (Arizona) game from afar and how much he missed it,” Phillips said about Kubiak. “How much he missed being with the players and how much he missed being around the team.

“He was telling them that you guys don’t realize how much you miss it until you’re out of it, even one week. He looked fine. Again, he talked to the team about those things with conviction.”